Improvement in the methods of working oil-wells



. M. LYTLE. l Methods of Working Oil-Wells. N0; 146,600, PatentedJan-20,l874.

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vMathnds ofw'orlfing Dil-Wells. N0. 145,600, l Patented Jan. 20,1874.

7 m. Methods of Working Dil-Wells.

f3 Sheets- LYTLE.

Paielhted Jan. 20, l874.-

MUnnIcK LYTLE, on om cirv, rnNNsYLvAN1A-f lIMPIRQVMENT IN THE METHODS oF WORKING .en -WELLS'.`

Specilication forming part of LettersiPatent No.`l46,600, dated January 20, 1874; .application filed y December 22, 1873.

To all whom it may concern: i

, Beit known that I, MURDICK LYTLE, of Oil City, in the county of Venango y and State 0i" i Pennsylvania, have inventeda new and useful Method of Working Oil-VVells; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear,

Iand exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,making part `of this specification, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal section, showing mechanism which I employ for working a series` ot' wells according to `my lnew method, coni- `pressed air `from a single reservoir of power being used to actuate they` saidmechanism. Fig. 2 is a view, showing partly in section and partly in elevation the mechanism adapted for working a series `of wells, modified so as to permit of water under high pressure, and supplied from a single reservoir of power being used as the actuating agent.` QFig. 3 is a per-1 y spective view, on an enlarged scale, of fthe en` gine which I use, and which is shown in Fig.

l. Fig. ais a modification both of the regulating device of the engine andof the mode of y connecting the engine to theoil-well pump.

`The nature of my invention consists in op- Werating a series of oil-wells, which yield` dif-` l ferent quantities of oil during the saine period,

by a sin gle` great power, which is communicated y f lto the respective pumps of the wells, 'according tothe quantity ofthe yield of oil `from the wells, l in such divided quantities that the speeds of the respective pumpsfare controlled and only the requisite consumption of power foreach well takes place.

The means which I employ for carrying out Emy invention consists of single-acting engines.

provided with a regulator on the exhauststroke, and with throttle-valves, and -with connecting mechanism, which insures open inletports on the completion of the down-stroke, or wlienthepistonsof the engines are relieved lfrom the force of the great power.`

time lost in going the rounds to start each engine. My sin gle acting regulated engines, which are always open for anew start, obviate the difficulty and loss `of time `just named. Further, as experience 'has shownthat it takes about as much steamto run a well when pumping nothing from fit, asywheiidrawing a small stream of oit-say, several barrels per dayit` Y will be readily understood that running a twelve or sixteen horse power engine twentytour hours, and obtainingtliereby onlythree or four barrels of liquid, is avery unprottable business, especiallyI as thesamepower, if properly applied, would pump three or four hundred y barrels in the same time.` y y y i Y According to the old imode of working oil- Iwells, it is commonin some localities, where the wells are small, to use largeengines, `while the stream of oil or water pumped is not larger than a straw. My plan is with such wells to use an engine which makesltwo or three` quick strokes per minute, and do the work aswell `as with an engine running ata speed of sixty `or seventy strokes per minute; and with my l plan, in those localities where it is common to drill fifty to one hundred feet below the oilproducing rock for the `purpose of making pockets, the oil can ,be `Dhmped `fromjthe pockets by heads" as often as thepockets `fill; while in those localities where "it is `injurious to drill below the oil-rock,the pumping can be carriedl on steadily and the proper yield secured, andstillall the engines employed for working the `pumps operated from one common great power, `wllichpower in short range of territory maybe steam, andin a 'greater range `may be compressed air or water under high pressure. y

` To enable others skilled in theartto make and use my invention, I Awill describethe same with reference to `the drawings. i

1 A B C D represent four independent singlecylinder engines open at the top, and with ex- 3 haust-passages a b c d-near the upper end, as

shown. These engines are provided with pistons al, inlet-ports a2 `b2 or/l2, and with `valves i a3 b3 c3 d3, and with escape-pipes a? InV 04- d4," These valves are connected with rods f f lf 2 f which move up anddown .with thepistons, by means of' rocking armsifbs c5 d?. "ll-herpistdns and valve-rods are y ccinnected` by` cross'lheads g g1 Vg2` g3, and these cross-heads actnpon `toesl or collars h h1 vof the rods in the up and down strokes. Iny order to accelerate the opening of the valves on the down-stroke, spiral springs m are arranged between the sliding collars h1 and stops h2 of the Valve-rods. To insure the compression of these springs in the down stroke, offsets n are formed on the engine-cylinders A and B, and upon these offsets the stops h2, or horizontal portions of bent rods 0, momentarily hang on the down-stroke, and in order to throw these stops laterally off the offsets the bent rods o are arranged between the fixed collarsh 71,2, and are made with an angle or bend, h3, so that said rods shall be struck by the cross-heads of the piston and valve-rods in the movement of the piston, and thereby be set free from the offsets n. This contact of the cross-heads with the bent rods causes the valve-rods to turn slightly, and in order to insure their return with the bent rods to a position for a repetition of the operation, spiral springs q are fitted upon the valve-rods below the stops h2, said springs be- V ing fastened by one end to the rocking arms a5 b5 of the valves, and by the other end to the valve-rods, andare kept under tension by lateral contact of the bent rods with the oif sets n, and are only set free by the said rods rising higher than the offsets and moving laterally over them. E E1L E2 E3 are oil-well pumps of any suitable construction, and F Fl F2 F3 are regulating-pumps, which are furnished with two inlet-passages, r r1, one of which is closed by a valve, s, and the other by a cock, s1. The valves open with an upward movementY of the pistons of the pumps, and

close with a downward movement. The cocks are left open more or less, so as to receive with lthe upward movement and discharge with the downward movement of the pistons. The lower ends of the regulating-pumps are submerged in a fluid contained in vessels t. The iiuid in the vessels t is continually being pumped from and back into the vessels. The iiuid drawn into these auxiliary pumps serves to form water-cushions, which ease and regulate the exhaust or down stroke ofthe engine-pistons. G Gr1 G2 G3 are walking-beams., to which the pistons of the engines, also of the oil and regulating pumps, are connected. These beams are connected to pillars or standards H H1 H2 H2. I is the main supply-pipe leading from a compressed-air reservoir of great power. To this pipe, by means of branches, the several engines are connected, and each engine, near the point where the power is admitted to it, is provided with a throttle-valve. These throttle-valves are lettered J ,Jll J2 J 3.

In Fig. 4 of the drawings the piston ofthe engine, instead of being connected to a walking-beam, is connected direct to the suckerrod of the oil-well. l

In Fig. 2 an air chamber or vessel, V, is combined with each4 of the engines for apurpose which will be explained in giving the general operation of the apparatus.

It will be observed, from an inspection of raised.

Figs. 2 Aand 4,"that the' auxiliary pump for regulating the down-stroke is not employed, its office being supplied by modified devices, which will also be referred to in giving the general Operation of the apparatus.

At 7c k, Fig. 2, a modification of the valve shown in all the other iigures is represented. This modiiication. consists in substituting any ordinary slide-valve for the circularvalve.

In describing the operation, I shall, to facilitate the description, refer to Fig. 4 first. In this plan the top of the cylinder is closed, and the down-stroke of the pistonis regulated by turning the stop I1. In this plan there is also a regulating device, L1 L2, which will be of advantage under certain conditions. With this plan we will say piston al vis down-as in FiO'. 1, engine A--the' rocking jarm a5 down, and the valve-passage a2 open. Now, it' the pipe I is fullof compressed air, and the'throttle J open, the power will rush into the cylinder andcause the piston al' to risefandY carry with it the sucker of the oil-well pump. As

the piston rises the air above the piston al isn driven out of the cylinder through the valve L2, and the piston will immediately close the outlet a, and compress'the balance of the air in chamber L6, forming thereby an air-cushior, to stop or keep the `piston in proper bounds,

`when the exhaust is much Vcontracted, or a rush of gas comes in the well.

I t'should be understood that if the'piston passes by the outlet a, the exhaust is opened at L2 until the piston settles down and closes outlet al. Vhen the piston gets below ce, then L2 closes, and

the only inlet to the chamber L*G Vis the `cock L1, which becomes at this stage a means for regulating the down-stroke by producing a 4partial vacuum in ch amber tLf".

We will now turn to Fig. l of thedrawin gs,

and describe the operation ofthe valve-motion and the other parts connected.- It should be understood that the valve-motion in all the gures is'the same, except in two of the iigures, as before mentioned, a slide-valveis substituted for the way-cocks. y

In engine-cylinder A the piston a] yand the rocking arm a5 are down, and theinlet port a2 open. The compressed air, entering into the cylinder, forces up the piston and thewalkin beam G, and thereby raises the suckerrod E of the oil-well pump E, and at the same time the sucker-tod Fof the governing-'pump E is y As this latter pump is operated, on the upstroke, fluid from. the vessel t ilows into the cylinder thereof at the two inlets r T1, but on the down-stroke the iiuid which entered is expelled only through the opening i". This mannerof slowly discharging the Viluid from this pump insures a very yslow and reliable down-stroke. 4

In engine-cylinder B the piston 111 and the rocking-arm b5 are up, and consequently the exhaust-port w is open, andthe exhaust air is let out at b4, which is van escape without any regulating-cock, such as is shown at L in Fig. 4. In this plan the down-stroke is governed `by theauxiliary pump Fl, in substantially the same manner as shown at F in Fig. 1. The engines A and B have each an escape, as at a and b, but as the tops of the cylinders are open the air-chamber L6 and the valves L1 L2 are `not used. When i L2, L1, and L6 in Fig. 4 are not used, then the cylinder should be consid erably higher than the regular upstroke of `piston al. y The valve a5 and pump E allow a variable travel at the upper stroke, even to the dispensing with vent a. These' engines `and the others, (l I), may .have the spiral springs, the bent rod, the oifset, and otherl parts shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, for in `sui-ing a quick opening of the inlet-port. In the operation ofthe regulating-pumps the water in the vessels is passed alternately in and out, and therefore will last a long time. In connection with the air or engine pipe a compressor is employed, which is of sutiicient capacity tosupply all the engines connected i with the well with power Suiiicient to pump all the wells empty. In practice, those engines nearest the source of power will have to be throttled :more than those at a distance from it.

I propose to proportion the speeds ofthe Vengines about as follows: Say, we have veleven s apump similar to that now used for forcing oil through the pipe-lnes-such pump forcing a thousand barrels of oil per day through .twelve to fifteen miles of two-inch pipe, t-he pipe being subjected to a pressure of one thousand pounds to the square inch.

Referring to Fig. 2, the engines l() and 'll will be used to explain the operation with water-pressure. Cylinder A should be small in the bore-v-say, to receive a two-and-a-half-inch piston, the length of the stroke the same as in the airengines. The valve should be the same as in the air-engines, unless changed to aslidevalve. The throttle may also be the same as in the other engines. Now, to work advantageously with water, an` air-vessel, V, is used between the throttle and valve-motion. This vessel is, of sufficient capacity to store power for one stroke of the piston without much diminution of the pressure in itself.. Say, all the engines connected with the waterpipe are provided with air-vessels and throttles, .and it is desired `to start the wells iiowing, all that is necessary is to set the throttles p in all the engines so the waterpwill rush into vessels V through small openings until the air in the vessels becomes of the same pressure as the water in the engine-pipe I. Next,

regulate the exhaust so that the down-stroke will be very slow. Now, if the piston in engine l1 is down, the valve a3 open, then the water in the air-vessel will rush into the en= gine-cylinder and make the upstroke. All

this time the water is still flowing through'the throttlepassage, but not fast enough to keep the pressure in vessel V from being consider- Y ably lessened during the upstroke of the pis ton. When the upstroke is iinished, or the piston is coming down slowly, water will be rushing into vessel V for the next stroke. This plan of storing power in the air-vessels allows the supply-pipe to be reduced in size. Say, there is a well twelve thousand feet from any other well, and it will produce one or two barrels per day. One-half-inch pipe from the main f might be laid to reach it, and the air-vessel depended upon for accumulating power during the down-stroke to make the upstroke.

In all of the single-cylinder engines which I employ the weight of the parts is sufficient to insure the down-stroke of the piston, and

to have this stroke regular` is very important. I would state that,`inpractice, the engines may or may not have walkingbeams. The

use of the -beams is resorted to only in such localities as it may be found advantageous to use them. It is found that in workin ga large oil-held with engines all taking power from"` the same source, and some of the wells in a `valley and some on top of a hill, the depths will vary from three to ive hundred 'feetthose in a valley, say,'ve hundred feet deep, i

and those on the hill vone thousand feet deep. This renders it important that the several engines should be proportioned to the work to i be done. Now, in order to make the same engine answer for duty on high or low ground, the walkin g-beam is used and the well-pump connected on the beam at such point as will allow the engine to work advantageously. An engine for two-foot stroke in a uve-hundred foot well would require a beam for a thousand- I foot well, `and the pumpwould be placed halfway between the engine and fulcruni of the beam.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The method, substantially as herein described, of operating a series of oillwells y which yield different quantities ina given period, said method consisting in the employ ment of a series of single-acting engines with the exhaust-stroke regulated to give the proper number of strokes to each engine according to the yield of oil from the wells being pumped, `substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

- MURDIGK LYTLE.

Witnesses:

H. McKIM, J. A. HAMMERsLY. 

